TORONTO — Intact Financial Corp. will buy Jevco Insurance Co. from Westaim Corp. for $530-million to expand its already major presence in the Canadian property and casualty insurance sector.

Toronto-based Intact, which has been an acquisition leader in an industry that is facing fast consolidation, said Wednesday that 48.6% of Westaim shareholders have agreed to vote for the deal. Westaim, a Toronto-based holding company, bought Jevco from insurer Kingsway Financial Services Inc. in 2010.

Jevco insures cars, motorcycles and recreational vehicles such as snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. It had about $350-million in direct premiums in 2011.

“The acquisition will allow us to expand our offering to brokers by providing them the opportunities to offer their clients complementary specialized products such as recreational vehicle insurance,” Intact chief executive Charles Brindamour said.

Intact intends to finance the acquisition with an existing line of credit and through a bought deal to issue subscription receipts that is worth about $226-million.[np-related]

It has entered into an agreement with a group of underwriters, led by CIBC World Markets and TD Securities, to issue 3.6 million subscription receipts at $62.75 each.

Intact, which was formerly the Canadian insurance arm of ING Groep, has already been busy on the acquisitions front, buying the Canadian operations of French insurer AXA last year for $2.6-billion.

Analysts have predicted a fast pace of takeovers in Canada’s fragmented P&C insurance industry as foreign players sell off their Canadian subsidiaries to boost capital levels.

Signs that the federal government may move to allow policy holder owned insurers to demutualize could increase the number of attractive targets.

Mr. Brindamour said in March that Intact would seek deals both to build on its 17% Canadian market share, and possibly to push into international markets.

Intact, which sells insurance under the Belair Direct and Grey Power banners, was a top performer among Canadian financial stocks last year with a 15% rise. The shares have continued to gain this year, with a 9% gain so far, and were up 52¢, or 0.8%, at $63.90 Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The stock was also likely getting a boost from a stronger-than-expected profit reported by Intact late Tuesday. The company said first-quarter operating profit rose 75% due to a large jump in premiums courtesy of the AXA acquisition.